I know I’m way late to the party on this film but still wanted to give my quick thoughts on a surprisingly successful legacy sequel. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes 36 years after the first film and follows the story of three generations of the Deetz family as they return to Winter River for the funeral of Charles. As Lydia’s daughter Astrid is persuaded to go into the afterlife by a sinister spirit, Lydia must call on the help of Betelgeuse in order to get her back. Tim Burton brings his usual sense of style and flair that feels more dialed back to his roots instead of being an overwhelming eye sore like his Alice in Wonderland films. There is a surprising amount of reliance on practicality that makes the world feel more tangible and the characters more fully realized. The costumes and character designs standout through their zany bizarreness, but in a good eye catching way. The makeup, hair, and costume departments should all be in the short running for Oscars in my book because their work here makes the film what it is visually. Michael Keaton returning to the role of Betelgeuse is just as great as you might hope. He chews up the scenery and gives the part as much abrasive charisma and slyness as the first film. The same can be said for Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara. They effortlessly slip back into their characters and feel like accurate continuations rather than stale rehashings. Of the new additions to the cast, my favorites have to be Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe. Ortega feels like she was born to be in every Tim Burton film, and that is especially true here. She has a comedic timing that fits nicely with Burton’s dialogue that makes what she says resonate in a much funnier way than it should. Her cadence and tone helped nail the more dramatic moments as well. You can tell Dafoe is having an absolute blast on set, as it really shows in his performance. I could’ve watched an entire film following his character alone. While surrounded by horror elements, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a family comedy at heart and those are the two elements that work best. I loved seeing the Deetz family back together and getting to see Lydia and Astrid rekindle metaphorically and Delia and Charles rekindle literally in the afterlife was a nice book end to all the characters’ journeys. There are a lot of gags, one liners, and small details (like Charles' grave being shaped like a shark fin) that made me laugh on a pretty consistent basis. Outside of the family aspect and comedy working really well, the rest of the writing is pretty messy. Certain plot lines and character decisions definitely feel born out of plot convenience rather than for the sake of a compelling narrative. Astrid conveniently crashes her bike through the single abandoned house in the entire neighborhood and can see ghosts all of a sudden. And somehow, neither Astrid nor Lydia noticed the for sale sign when she got dropped off on her date, and both of his mutilated parents don’t turn around when Astrid walks in. Later once we learn of Jeremy’s true intentions, he is abruptly killed off. This is a funny death but makes his character utterly pointless to the story outside of having a reason to have Lydia say Beatlejuice three times and bring him into the mix. I found Justin Theroux’s character to be a complete misfire and unfunny. He is the stereotypical airhead who can’t read a room and is entirely selfish. I wouldn’t have minded him if he was only in a couple of scenes, but he is one of the central characters in the plot, and felt like the film’s pacing would completely come to a halt every time we would cut back to them. Despite some pretty sloppy and contrived writing in moments, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice far exceeded my expectations. Now it’s nowhere near the original, but it proves Tim Burton still knows how to cook every now and again. I’m sure everyone who cares already has, but I implore you to see this film in theaters or buy it for Halloween if it's out by then.

74/100

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